What Does Matthew 26:63 Mean in the King James?
But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The high priest does not merely ask who Jesus is; he places the question under oath before the living God.
THE MEANING
You meet a moment in which Jesus is silent while the high priest binds his question to the living God: whether Jesus is the Anointed One, the Son of God. The oath gives the demand the weight of sworn testimony, and the question names the identity at stake.
THE ROOT
ἐξορκίζω
exorkizō
GROWS FROM
ὁρκ-
Oath; binding through a sworn appeal.
“I adjure” in this verse is exorkizō. The word carries the same ὁρκ- seed as the Greek noun for an oath. It frames the high priest’s words as placing Jesus under sworn obligation before God, rather than as an ordinary question.
ALSO GROWS
hórkos: Oath
ὅρκος
This is the noun from the same word family and makes the oath beneath “I adjure” visible.
horkízō: Put someone under oath
ὁρκίζω
This verb shares the root and shows the act of binding someone by an oath.
exorkízō: Adjure; exact an oath
ἐξορκίζω
This is the verse’s word: the priest’s question comes with the force of an oath.
ἐσιώπα
esiōpa
GROWS FROM
σιωπ-
Silence; being silent.
“held his peace” in this verse is esiōpa. The verb belongs to the same σιωπ- family as the Greek word for silence. Its imperfect form presents Jesus’ silence as continuing through this moment, just as the demand for speech becomes explicit.
ALSO GROWS
siōpáō: Be silent
σιωπάω
The verb from this root names the silence that the verse shows continuing.
siōpḗ: Silence
σιωπή
The related noun makes clear that the action and the state of silence share a seed.
siōpēlós: Silent; quiet
σιωπηλός
This related word carries the same root into a description of quietness.
χριστός
christós
GROWS FROM
χρι-
Anoint; mark with anointing.
“the Christ” in this verse is christós. Χριστός grows from the verb for anointing, so the question names Jesus as the Anointed One, not merely by a personal label. The verse places that identity beside “the Son of God,” pressing both claims at once.
ALSO GROWS
chríō: Anoint
χρίω
The verb is the action at the root of the title used in the verse.
chrîsma: Anointing
χρῖσμα
This related noun names the anointing itself and shares the χρι- root.
christós: Anointed one
χριστός
This is the title in the verse, carrying the root’s sense of being anointed.
THE PATTERN
A demand for speech under divine authority makes testimony accountable to truth.
And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD?I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;THE THREAD
For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.Hebrews uses ὅρκος (hórkos), from the same ὁρκ- family as ἐξορκίζω, for an oath that confirms a matter and ends dispute. That root connection reveals the force of the high priest’s words: he makes Jesus’ identity a sworn matter.
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